#I should finish that one though...

[pearl-kite]

Finished it! A couple of months ago I started this pattern by @antisocialxconstruct / @craftsbyrom and I just finished up the last squares today. After the last cross stitch, this was pleasantly straightforward and very relaxing busy-work for my hands. The pattern is available digitally in it's Kofi shop for a minimum of a dollar (I've also bought that glitchy dog skull that I'll get around to eventually 👀).

Some technicalities etc below:

One tweak I made was at the very end I decided to try a tiny bit of backstitch to make the letters stand out, and for the most part I like the addition, but I'm still debating. The way it turned out on the Y has me tilting my head back and forth.

Here's the completed one before the backstitching:

I went with 3 strands instead of 4 like it did for the sample, but I think the coverage was still pretty good. Definitely needed at least the 3 for the dark areas to stay completely dark.

With 3 strands, most colors were okay with just 1 skein of DMC thread, but I did need to run to the shop to grab a few: - DMC 3814 - Aquamarine (I had less than a square inch left when I needed to get more ;3;) - DMC 02 - Tin - DMC 797 - Royal Blue

If I had done 4 stands I would have also needed a second DMC 939 for the very dark blue, because I have just about a foot left on my spool.

I'm debating what to do with it. The last one became a pillow, but this one is juuust a bit small to be a useful pillow. I might just do it anyway, sampler throw pillows aren't that weird after all, but I might also try to kind of rig a sort of frame and stretch it like a canvas? It could be nice up on the wall that way.

[paging-possum]

Does anyone else wish henny was still here. Does anyone else miss her.

[xxplastic-cubexx]

Hi!! Your Cherik is so good and gorgeous 🤩🤩 If you don't mind wanna try to draw some Fall of X Cherik please?

thank you so much !!

i have a couple of ideas relating to the fall of x period specifically since theres. A Lot i wanna play with, so i hope this lil thing may be a satisfactory start :]]

and the obligatory bonus:

[aureoboros]

he thinks he’s hilarious

hey while you’re here, look at my guys!! they mean the world to me. i’m killing them with hammers. thank you have a good day :]

also biblically accurate adriel (yay autopsy scars! and more accurate face scars!!) i’m so bad at sorting out files… it took me forever to figure this out

[serpentface]

A few birds of prey found in (and beyond) Imperial Wardi claimed land: the crow kite, dove eagle, and golden eagle.

---

The crow kite is a small, nimble hunter. This particular species is found exclusively west of the Blackmane mountain range and east of the Mouth seaway, though has close relatives elsewhere. They're mostly found in grasslands, where they can be seen hovering in midair while scanning for prey below. They primarily prey upon insects caught in flight, though will also regularly take rodents and lizards and can grapple with prey almost as large as themselves. Most of their diet consists of live prey, though they will opportunistically scavenge.

They are threatened by larger birds of prey, though are notably aggressive and proficient at mobbing most threats.

The crow kite has a particular partnership association with the (broadly unnoticed to be Sapient by humans) 'talking crows' who live here. Mutualistic and/or stealthily parasitic interactions with other animals characterize many crow cultures, and kites represent the only raptors that crows in this region partner with (largely due to posing no threat to themselves/their young).

Both (mostly) benefit from the overall relationship- the kite is slightly larger and notably more powerful than a single crow, while the crows are highly social and can keep more effective watch for predators as large groups. When foraging in association, they are highly effective at warning each other of threats and teaming up to drive them away. Crows will take on predators they wouldn't even dare approach as a large group with kites on their sides (notably the dove eagle, which is rarely outright mobbed by smaller birds due to their tremendous agility and capability of turning the tables on pursuers), and the two species are known to drive away substantially larger mammalian predators (occasionally even humans) from carcasses and resources. Kites also have beaks better equipped for tearing than crows, and can open some carcasses that crows cannot.

The most dramatic form of this association is the 'adoption' of kite chicks by some crow families. Kites rear clutches of 3-5 eggs, and the crows will occasionally steal an unguarded chick and raise it to maturity in order to fully monopolize the benefits of this partnership. Kite chicks adopted by crows do not heavily compete for resources (as the crows have a significantly more generalist diet) and serve as permanent attack dogs/can openers for their adoptive families while out foraging. This is not Particularly beneficial to the kite, who (having imprinted on their crow parents) will not readily mate with their own species, and will often be allowed to do most of the work of mobbing predators (when deemed too risky/too much effort for the crows themselves). An adopted kite's propensity to form one-sided pair bonds with their adoptive species is also utilized to assist in the labor of rearing chicks, where it can be coaxed into bringing kills for a nesting crow 'partner'. The crows generally do bond with their 'adoptees' (though not as fellow crows) and don't tend to perceive this relationship as wholly exploitative.

This association in of itself is widely noted by human observers, hence the kite's common name. Most peoples in this region have largely negative outlooks on crows (ranging from being despised scavengers to respected but frightful animals, and in all cases are considered potentially bad omens), which is extended to the crow kite. Crow kites are often regarded as omens of death and misfortune, sometimes even more intensely than crows. One of the most widespread beliefs (across several cultural groups) is that seeing a crow kite and crow perch together on top of a home indicates the impending demise of a mother and infant during childbirth.

---

The dove eagle is a mid-sized specialist predator of smaller birds, found widely across the temperate and subtropical eastern continental mass. It is most associated with the killing of doves (hence its name), though the majority of its prey is passerine birds and it is occasionally known to take small mammals and reptiles. It is a very powerful predator and exceptionally agile in flight. It also has notably long legs, and can occasionally be seen pursuing prey on foot. It is most abundant in savanna and wooded regions, as well as mountainous areas with high cliffs, as it usually hunts in short bursts from high perches. It can be somewhat of a pest in human settlements, where it poses a threat to poultry.

While often an irritant to people for its predation of avian livestock, it tends to be regarded for its beauty, with its bluish-hued feathers, sleek profile, and elegant flight. Its light blue-gray eyes are notably distinctive among predatory birds here. Light eye colors commonly have sinister and/or apotropaic associations among peoples south of the Viper seaway, which carries into folklore surrounding dove eagles. They are often ascribed the power to paralyze prey with their stare, to be capable of inflicting curses, and/or to be able to frighten off evil spirits with their glare. They are often left unharmed where other threats to livestock would be killed out of fear of receiving a curse.

The dove eagle has the most extensive significance in the Hill Tribes cultural sphere. This bird is one of many avian forms ancestors can take when visiting the world of the living, and the vast majority of its birdsign-omens are wholly positive. The dove eagle tends to be a signal of impending success and good luck in economic ventures, and its presence/gaze chases away bad luck and evil spirits (perhaps at the cost of some poultry here and there, which sometimes may be a message of ancestral disapproval as well as just a general bummer). Its feathers are considered lucky and utilized in magical practice (bundles are waved to banish malicious spirits from homes and objects, single feathers are sometimes worn as good luck charms), though feathers must be retrieved from around nests or by chance, as killing predatory birds is taboo.

---

The golden eagle is a very large, bulky predator. This particular subspecies (distinguishable by its dark, mostly solid colored wings) is very widespread and can be found throughout much of the northeastern hemisphere, adapting to a considerable variety of habitats and climates. It is occasionally a threat to livestock, being wholly capable of killing the tiny offspring of horses, and sometimes even a threat to newborn cattle (they are known to kill very young calves by knocking them off cliffs when the opportunity presents itself). They are noted for their dramatic courtship displays, wherein coupling pairs lock talons and spin towards the ground in freefall.

They tend to be highly regarded animals in most of this region. They tend to garner associations of regality, power and (usually masculine) strength. They are frequently used as symbols of monogamous romantic love and devotion, notably mating for life (most partnered pairs at least rear chicks together for life, though extra-pair copulation is fairly common and often goes unnoticed by observers). Their mating death-spiral makes frequent appearances in Wardi poetry as a romantic allegory, sometimes as a simple representation of foolhardy love and sometimes representative of the often challenging nature of first-time marriages (very commonly arranged, and often between strangers in the upper-class contexts that mainstream poetry tends to focus on).

Most proto-Wardi groups appear to have held the eagle as a high status sacred animal in ancient history, and very old outsider recordings of these earlier practices describe these birds as highly venerated in association with a non-personified but semi-deified sun and/or sky. Proto-Finnic groups that migrated here appear to have had associations with golden eagles in a funerary context (these migrants most likely practiced sky burials early in their history here) and to have adopted the golden eagle's semi-deified status from proto-Wardi groups they interacted with/absorbed/were absorbed by.

The centrality of the golden eagle has largely been lost in contemporary practices, but remnants of its status are still obvious. Cholemdinae folklore describes the golden eagle as one of God (who is the sun)'s most devoted creations, who tried to stop the theft of fire that would destroy the first world. Surviving 'heathen' North Wardi practices that similarly venerate the sky as a central deity describe the golden eagle as its messengers, also capable of traveling to and from the land of the dead. The King of Eagles, the first golden eagle (and first bird in general), father of dragons and the winds, is lightly venerated as a deity-spirit throughout most of the Hill Tribes religious sphere, and the spirits of dead ancestors are considered to frequently take the form of these birds. Contemporary Imperial Wardi animal-folktales also tend to cast the golden eagle as a king of birds, commanding and served by lesser flying creatures. While not outright sacred animals in the Faith of the Seven Faced God, they have noted solar associations. They are sometimes used as sacrifices to the Face Inyamache, and their feathers are given as offerings and worn by priests to this deity-aspect.

[imrllytootiredforthis]

men are sluts.

[briankang]

Magic, madness, heaven, sin

[icantalk710]

Looong day of catching up on emails and work to set myself up to be (mostly) on vacation as of xmas 😩☕😵‍💫

[crows-of-buckets]

Anders doodle that I could have put more effort into but I got lazy :P

Anyways this specifically is meant to take place after he patches up Hawke after the Arishok fight. I was writing it last night and went "hm I should draw that"

Bonus, shitty sketch I did at 2am when I had this idea and the writing segment that inspired it. It's so funny I talk about my writing a lot but I never share it cause it scares me lmao

[webothblackedout]

“in your brother. you live in each other’s body.”

querelle of brest — jean genet / the white lotus — mike white / the ballad of reading gaol — oscar wilde

[sersfandomthings]

wanderer

(referenced from that one shot in the 3.3 interlude quest)

[ra-vio]

this blog is 11 years old now 🎉

I drew the siblings ever to celebrate as usual

[volivolition]

SHIVERS WON THE SKILLS BRACKET!!!!

YAY CONGRATS SHIVERS FOR WINNING @skills-bracket-2 <333

[mossiistars]

despite being more into wwdits now, something about tma just motivates me to make animatics. not sure when it'll be done but this one is gonna hurt and I'm so excited to see you all suffer <3 (said with love)

[echolepzy]

Seeing other people experiencing ISAT for the first time is so fucking funny because like

Oh!!!! I remember how that felt! Yikes! Anyway keep going pal you’re doing great (silent screaming because It Gets Worse and yet nothing can be said without spoiling it)